The CFS is a P41 Resource supported since April 1993 by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR). Since its inception, the CFS has taught an annual weeklong course, Principles and Applications of Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy. The size of the course has grown each year starting with 29 attendees in 1993, to 149 attendees in 2001. The course consists of 4-1 /2 full days of lectures and experimentation. The first two days are devoted to basic principles with lectures presented mostly by Drs. Lakowicz and Thompson, also of the UM. The remaining 2-1/2 days are devoted to more advanced topic like fluorescence microscopy, correlation spectroscopy and novel fluorophores with most of the lectures given by internationally known scientists. The attendees come from throughout the United States and about 20% from Europe. The course has evolved to include hands-on experiments and data analysis, which were made possible by the increasing participation of instrument companies. In 2001 these companies brought 37 instruments to the course. The company representatives serve as instructors during the hands-on portion of the course. During the past the attendees perform steady state and time-resolved experiments using samples prepared by the CFS staff. The CFS course is widely recognized as the best place to learn the principles of fluorescence and to be introduced to the latest technology and applications. Attendance has grown even though there are course fees to cover the expenses and the CFS provides no support for travel and local expenses of the attendees. Over the past years, they have received an increasing number of requests for fee waivers, fee reductions or travel expenses from individuals wishing to attend the course. In the present proposal, they request funds to assist academic researchers in attending the course. These funds will be distributed on the basis of need to academic scientists. Depending upon the circumstances of each individual, they expect to grant partial fee waivers, complete fee waivers and/or travel expenses. Preference will be given to federally sponsored laboratories, and especially to include under-representative minorities. They also plan to send announcements to other P41 centers to encourage collaborations between centers. They are requesting funds adequate to provide 10 complete fee waivers in the first year, growing to 18 waivers in the fifth year.